Opinion: What happens when dams come down
In January, draining the reservoirs behind the Klamath Dams began. Iron Gate Reservoir, Copco Lake, and the Boyle Reservoir are now largely empty as blasts opened holes in culverts beneath Copco #1 and the John C. Boyle dams and the outlet tunnel below Iron Gate was opened. “The Klamath River flows free,” ran some headlines. Well not exactly. Keno and Link River dams in Oregon upstream near Klamath Falls will not be removed. Iron Gate, Copco #1, and J.C. Boyle still stand, although the reservoirs behind them are largely empty. Until the dams are completely removed (slated for this spring/summer), the flow is still impacted by the dam structures, causing erosion and ponding. Constriction and acceleration as the water flows through narrowed passageways can lead to cavitation. Cavitation occurs when irregularities in the bed lift the water. The resulting negative pressure causes bubbles of water vapor to form.
-Written by Lori Dengler, an emeritus professor of geology at Cal Poly Humboldt.Related articles: